Powder filling machine



, NOV. 9, 1937. w s ET AL 2,098,905

POWDER FILLING MACHINE Original Filed Oct; 12, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 r 1mam rm 5: 6%}. M (agar/a5 Ma/zrz Nov. 9, 1937 C. J. WESTlN ET AL POWDERFILLING MACHINE Original Filed Oct. 12,

1954 v 5 Sheets-Sheet -2 III/l Ray/ 2y, Sr?

Nov. 9, 1937.

Original Filed Oct. 12, 19:54

5 Sheets-Sheet 3 1 R m a W 6 m w WW3 G w v Q A; m II. 0% II 22 mm v )IN)! F 99.6 E r\ K 8 w m ,f I mh w .wh 9 M U\ v MM m Ah Nov. 9, 1937. c.J. WESTIN ET AL POWDER FILLING MACHINE Original Filed Oct. 12, 1954 5Sheets-Sheet 4 Cikriw NOV. 9, 1937. c, wEs m ET AL 2,098,905

POWDER FFILLING MACHINE Original Filed Oct. 12, 1934 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 mmiss Patented Nov.9,1937 a 2 09 905 'UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE POWDER.mama moms Charles J. Westin and Albert Donaghy, Sr., Philadelphia, Pa.,assignors to F. J. Stokes Machine Company, Philadelphia, Pa., 'acorporation of Pennsylvania Application October 12, 1934, Serial No.748,047 Renewed September 28, 1937 10 Claims. (Cl. 226-99) Thisinvention relates'to filling machines used apparent from the drawingsand specification. for filling or packing powdered, pulverulent, or Inthe drawings: granular materials as well as viscous or pasty Fig. 1 is aside elevation of our device, with products into cans, cartons, jars,bottles, etc., and parts broken away, in vertical cross-section, andparticularly to the kindof machines known as the with parts of theconveyor and holders thereon volumetric type in which the product ismeasured omitted for the sake of clarity. out and discharged into thecontainer by means Fig. 2 is a front elevation of our device, with 01the intermittent rotation of an auger. parts broken away, in verticalcross-section, and

The object of our invention is to provide a new with parts omitted forthe sake of clarity. and improved machine of the single auger type Fig.3 is a perspective view in detail of a holder which will be capable ofaccurately filling conwith the cup and the can received therein.tainers, without slopping over, at two to three F 4 is a p Plahviewof0111' machine, With times the possible speed of the old type of mapartsbroken away, in horizontal cross-section.

chines. Fig. 5 is a view in detail, in vertical cross-sec- Some of thefeatures of our. invention consist tion, thr the i sploeket 0f the 15in: veyor. v

The novel arrangement of change gearing pro- Fig. 6 is a top plan viewof the driving mechviding convenient means for adjusting the speedanism, with parts broken away, in horizontal of the cam shaft so thatthis speed is maintained cross-section, and-removed for the sake ofclarity.

6 at one revolution for each fill, which is a speed Fig. '7 is a view indetail in side elevation. with go suitable to the time cycle asdetermined by the parts in vertical cros -section. on t e l n capacityof the auger; VII-VII of Fig. 6.

The convenient arrangement of cam-segments H8. 8 is a per p .View Of thePowder for adjusting and limiting the time of operation Supp y means andDP for the auger drive-clutch,--which controls the Fig. 9 is a verticalcross section of the clutch- 25 amount of fill; controlling leverreturnmechanism as viewed The conveyor chain drive, consisting of a frome top of the sheet in Fig. 6. v v Geneva gear co-operating with a,double-arm, In that embodiment of our invention chosen for driver,whereby a rapid, intermittent movement d scripti n and f r illustra n ne draw n is imparted to the containers from station-toour v c s shown asconsisting of a frame or station but at a slow retarded acceleration andpp t On which 811 the Other Parts Of the deceleration, which preventsspilling or disturbmachine a o O frame l 18 mounted ing the loose powderin the containers; a column 2, on which is supported the fe n Thetwo-step-fill whereby the containers are hill S pp y means the pp 4beneath 5 lifted under the auger intwo stages or steps, and the fi meansz e 5 depending allowing the air to freely escape from the -cont e f mThere s also mounted n column I s tainer during the first two-thirds ofthe filling; conveyor. genera-11y indicated a for the 08118 Theno-container no-fill device, which only acto be filled. Within frame Iare mounted the tuates the clutch controlling the auger rotation maindrive shaft 1,,which is connected to a when a container is-present to befilled; f prime mover as by a pulley 11, the transverse 40 The automaticlift-out for filled containers cam shaft 8, the clutch 9, the brake III,the.

consisting in the channeled cups'or containero-oan no-flll device, thedrivi m ans holders co-operating with the take-oi! rails so the conveyed5 b t S in S- 6 a d 7), and

that the containers are automatically. lifted out the driving gears forthe take-ofi spider II and 5 of the cups; the take-oi! disk II (bestseen in Fig. 6). The 1 The automatic take-ofl comprising a spidertake-oi! disk l2 and )the spider H are mounted with hinged arms r forremoving the containers on the top and to the rear of the frame I, as isfrom the lift-out in synchronized relation to the best seen in Figs. 1and 4'. conveyor chain movement; V Powder-handling mechanism-Referringnow A slow-motion stirrer or agitator in the feed to Figs. 1, 2 and 8,the powder to be filled into hopper to avoid whipping air into thepowder; the cans is placed in a supply means, or filling The baflle inthe feed hopper for maintaining a. bin 3, having a bottom controlled byvalve l3 constant head of material around the auger and (Fig. 2). Frombin 3, when valve I3 is opened, agitator; a 3 powder flows into hopper'linto a space partially other features of our invention will be readilyconfined by wall I4 and slide l5, which'is ad- 5 Justable by means ofwing-nuts ll. Slide |5 can thus be set to maintain a suitable head ofpowder in the hopper 4. The hopper has an open bottom, to which isfastened filling means or nozzle 5 as by clamp l1. As is best seen inFig. 2, nozzle 5 has, at its lower end, a flange or collar l8 carryingan insert I! of flexible material, such as felt, in its lower face andthe container is pressed against this face when filling. Within thenozzle 5, and extending up into bin 4, is a filling auger 20, which isdetachably secured to the end of auger shaft 2|. As best seen in Fig. 8,auger-shaft 2| is driven through gear 34, from gear 26, on shaft 25.Gear 21 on shaft 28 is merely an idler for transmitting the power fromgear 26 to gear 14. As seen in Fig. 6, shaft 25 is driven through gears25 from shaft 30, which is driven from drive shaft 1, through clutch 9,and which is braked or stopped by brake III as soon as clutch 9 isreleased by control lever 46. Figs. 2 and 8 show a stirrer or agitator3|, which is rotatably mounted on sleeve 12, surrounding shaft 2|, andthence on support 53, which is stationarily mounted on column 2. As isbest seen in Fig. 8, sleeve 32 is driven through a worm gear 22, shaft25 and gearing 24, connected to shaft 25. This gearing is so arrangedthat agitator 3| will rotate very slowly, usually at a speed of only 20to 40 revolutions per minute. although shaft 25 imparts a speed of 500to 700 revolutions per minute to auger-shaft 2|. If the agitator 3|rotates too fast, the powder is whipped up and air is trapped in itcausing variations in the amounts delivered by the auger. With mostpowders, the success of uniform fills depends upon the emcient removalof the air and the condensing of the powder into aun'iform and densemass. This'is accomplished by the slow speed type of agitator.

No-can no-fill device.-Referring to Figs. 1, 2, 4 and 6, and especiallyFig. 2, there is seen an arm or trip 35 adjustably mounted on shaft 36,so as to normally lie inthe path of the containers carried by theconveyor, and readily turnable when the container passes the contact orindex point. Shaft 36 carries, at its lower end, an arm 31 connected bya link 35 to a plvotally mounted clutch-locking arm 35. This lockingarm39 normally overlies one end of the'pi'votally mounted clutch-lever arm40, which, is best seen in Fig. 6, carries at its other end a cam roller4| co-operating with a cam 42 mounted on cam shaft 8. Referring to Fig.1, there is connected to clutch-lever 40 a forked cross arm 46, which atone arm or fork has a spring 45 yieldably pressing roller 4| againstthecam 42, and the other arm or fork is adjustable for proper control of.the brake ll clutch. 5 by bolt I46 and locking-nuts 141. Cross arm 46is made in two parts, one of which is connected to clutch-lever 40 andthe other of which is adjustable relative thereto by means of ascrewthreaded bolt or the like and which serves to actuate brake i0 andclutch 9. Calif 42 is made up of several segments clamped to the hub onshaft 8 by screw 44. The segments are adjustable fan-like so that thelength of time for the clutch-engagement can be made longer-or shorterto suit the time required .for the auger 25 in delivering the desiredamount of powder. A pin a or cam, for example, the inner end of screw 44which projects beyond the back of cam 42,

' co-operates with the inner end of link 45 to return the trip 35 intothe path of the container between each step of the conveyor. As is bestseen in Fig. 6 in dotted lines, link 45 extends beneath clutch 5- andbrake l5, so that the lefthand end of link 45 is in contact with theinner end of pin 44.

The operation of this device is as follows: A can, carried by theconveyor, turns arm 55, and consequently the linkage 15-45-31-35-45thereby frees the end of arm 45. When roller 4| strikes a low portion ofcam 42, arm 45 rises, rocking actuator 45, and thereby disengaging brakel0 and engaging clutch ,5. This drive shaft 1 to stub shaft 3., wherebygears 29, shaft 25 and anger 20 are set in motion to measure the powder.Upon one revolution of cam 42, the high part of cam 42 raises roller 4|,disengaging clutch 5 and applying brake |l. In-the meantime, the pin 44on the rear of cam v42 actuates linkage 45 and draws arm 55 againintoposition over lever 40, so that lever 45 cannot again rise until arm 35is removed by the action of a container striking. arm 35 as can be seenin Fig. 9.

Conveyor drive-As seen in Fig. 6, drive shaft 7 turns gears 41 throughworm-gearing 451, thereby driving cam shaft-l at a constant rate ofspeed. This rate of speed, as will be explained later, is varied to suitthe time required for filling a container. Figs. 6. and "I- show adouble-armed Geneva-driver 45 for convenience of construction looselymounted on shaft 5. The arms 48 cooperate successively in turn with oneof the four slots 49 in Geneva star '55,,which is rigidly mounted onshaft 5|. It will be that the two arms 48 of the drive placed 180 apartso that for each complete revolution of the driver two consecutive slots49 of the Geneva star 50 are engaged by the arms and thereby the Genevastar 55 given two successive motions of a quarter turn or 90. each, butthe Geneva star 50 must only make'one quarter in each cycle or duringeach rotation or the cam shaft 0. The driver is, therefore, o erated athalf the speed or so, that it only makesonb half revolutionto one of camshaft 5. This reduced speed is obtained through the gear-train'I0-8|8384. On cam shaft I is fas ned gear 80, which drives a gear llfastened .on stubshaft 82, to which is also fastened gear 53 which,inturn, drives gear 84 to which the driver with its 'two arms 48 isconnected. Thembtion or quarter turn of the star 50 is transmitted shaft5|, gearing 52, shaft 55 and sprocket 5! to the conveyor chain 52, theproper step-by-step motion to it. Because 02 our novel arrangement of adouble-armed driver in combination with the proper gearing, the speed ofthe conveyor chain is reduced to one-half; permitting us to operate, themach ne at..twice the old production rate without or shaking out thecontents of the filled containers. Referring to Figs. 4 and 5;.k'eyedtojhhft 55is the hub 55, to which is fastened .drive-disk 51. The disk51 has slots 5| for bolts 55, so thilt the conveyor chain can beadjusted so as to place the containers centrally under the nofile 5. Theconveyor drive also has a safety device of the following construction:The sprochet 55 is sup- P rted between hub 55 and disk 51 so as to befree to turn. Disk 51, however, is provided with a perforated bushing 58corresponding to a similar bushing ill in sprocket 55. The power istransmitted from shaft 55 to the conveyor drive sprocket 59 by placingshear pin, such as an ordinary wire nail of proper shearing strength,through the two bushings 58 and 5.. If a oohtainer should get caughtanywhere along its travelpthis shear pin will-be cut and thus the driveand conveyor are protected from damage.

Sprocket '59 drives chain 62 or other conveyor which is guided bysprockets 68, 64 and 65 in an endless path, a portion of which passesadjacent to nozzle 5. v

Can holden-Referrihg to Figs. 1, 3 and 4, it will be'seen'that conveyor62 carries a plural-' ity of pins 66 thereon. Pins 66 pass throughperforations 61 in the rear of the holders 66, each of which has in itsfront va projection 69 adapted to ride on a rail III which parallels thepath of conveyor 62. -Rail I9 is mounted by flanges II to the clamps 12,by which the conveyor is supported on column 2. Through one of theclamps I2 extends the adjuster I8, which bears at its lower end on thetop of frame or support I. It will thus be seen that, by loosening thebolts I4 which hold the clamps I2, the

entire conveyor, indicated at 6, may be adjusted vertically on thecolumn 2 by turning the adjuster I3. This adjustment permits the use ofthe machine with containers of varying heights.

A holder 68 is shown in Fig. 3. Into the cylindrical opening of holder68 is slidably placed the cup or container-carrier 8M, held in properalignment by screw 308 fitting into slot 802.

Two slots or notches I8 are provided in the wall 304 of cup 30I and madedeep enough to I permit the lift-out rails 96 (Fig. 4) to enter underthe container C which normally rests on face I9. The wall 304 is made ofsuitable outline-to properlyhold the containers in place while beingconveyed and placed under the nozzle 5. At the fillingstatlon or nozzle5, the cups are lifted by a two-step-motion of head I09 so as to bringthe containers up to the flange I8.

Two-step filLv-Referring to Figs. 1, 2 and6, it will be seen in Fig. 6that cam shaft 8 carn'es a cam 99 thereon, which carries a plurality offaces adjustable by means I00. The facesof cam 99 are formed by theedges of segments which are adjustable fanwise being held together byscrews or bolts I00. The cam faces can be best seen in Fig. 6 whichshows the faces at different distances from their center of revolu-.

tion about axis 8. -Roller IOI co-operates with cam 99 and is mounted onend of lever I02, which is pivoted on shaft I 08 andcarries a fork I 04at its outer end. Fig. 2 shows fork I04 cooperating with collar I05 faston shaft I06, a spring I BIservingto press shaft I06 and lever I04 up sothat the follower IOI will bear oncam-99. Shaft I06 carries a powderguard I08,

thereby preventing the entrance of powder into the bearing of shaft I06in the frame of support I. Shaft I06 also carries a head I08 at itsupper end, normally out of contact but underlying the pathof holders 68and cups I.

Upon movement of a low part of cam 99 beneath follower IOI, spring I0Ipushes fork "Hand. shaft I06 up, so that head I09 lifts 'theholder 68,which is beneath outlet 6, into the position adjacent to, but spacedfrom, outlet or-nozzle 6: Further movement of cam 89 brings a second"and lower part of cam 99 under follower IOI,

permitting spring 101 to push shaft I06 and, consequently, thecancarried in cup I, yieldingly against the flexible padJI9 on flange I8of outlet 5. {At thispoint, the fillingJs completed. Cam 99 then liftsfollower IOI, moving fork I0 down, compressing spring 101,. so that cup80I returns to .flange I8 or not lifted at all.

'formly accurate fills.

its seat on holder 6 8,

and head I09 is out of contact with cup 80l',-thus permitting movement,of the next succeeding cup into position to be lifted by head I09. Inthe old machines, thecontainers C were either lifted directly in onestep against the nozzle tainer is lifted and clamped tightly against theWhen the connozzle flange at once, the air is trapped in the containerand it is impossible to get the full amount into it. Then, when thecontainer is released, the compressed air will carry with it an withinto 1%" of the felt pad I9,'depending on the size of the container.larger containers require larger space for a free escape of 'air, andstill this space must not be too large as then the powder will slop overthe sides. The

air in the container is therefore replaced by loosely filled powder onthefirst step, which is then uniformly compressed by the additionalpowder forced in on the second step.

Automati take- IL-Referring to shaft 8 bears gear80 fast thereon,.whichdrives gear 8I on 82. Fast on shaft 82 is also gear 85 which drives gear86.to which is fastened one-of gears 81. Gears 8! drive spider shaft '88in timed relation to the step-by-step motion of the conveyor. shaft 88and drives belt 90, pulley 9| and-shaft 92 which rotates the. take-oildisk I! at a speed sufficient to carry the containers away as they aredelivered by the spider arm 94. Mounted on rail.,'I0, adjacent a portionof the path of cups 80.l, ,are lift-out rails 96, which slope upward inthe direction of movement of cups 80 I and whose lower ends enter theslots I8 and pass beneath the bottom of the containers C'in the cups 3Mand raise the containers gradually out of the cups 80I into the path ofone of the spider arms'9l which rise along the slope of the rails 96'andco-operate with the special stationary rail 91 to guide the containersonto diskJZ. The spiderarms are hinged at 95 to the spider hub on shaft88, so that they will slide alongthe-slo'pe of the rails 96 up onto thedisk I2. Previous tothe invention'of this device, it was necessary tohave one or two operators stationed at this point for the purpose ofremoving the filled containers, which usually requiredconsiderable carein order not to spill any of the powder.

, change-gearingfi-The weight or. amount of powder that can be filledinto a: container within a certain time is basically controlled by thesize and type of auger that-can be used. A certain size container with asmall opening may require three times as long for. filling as acontainer of the same size with an opening twice the size,

because the auger usually must be in proportion to the size of containeropening; The old ma- Fig. 6, cam

'A pulley 89 is fast on chines, were designed so that the cam shaft 8would operate at a constant-number .of revolutions per minute, usually80, regardless of the time required for filling. That meant that in acase like the one mentioned above; where a con ber of revolutions of thecam-shaft U;

tainer could be filled in one-third'the time, twothirds of the operatingtime was wasted.

We have overcome this loss of eificiency by the novel use in powderfilling machines of conveniently driving the cam shaft I throughvariable gear ratios. As described above, cam shaft 8 makes onerevolution for each complete cycleof operation, which includesconveying, indexing,

lifting the container, releasing the brake, engaging the clutch to startthe auger, and, with the fill completed. disengaging the clutch andapplying the brake. In ordier,v to accomplish the changeability of thecam-shaft speed, the shaft I was ,madeindependent of the garing I" ondrive-shaft I and shaft 8 placed a suitable distance from stub-shaft land the power transmitted from reduction gearing 1 through aninterchangeable set of gears 41'. When, therefore, a container can befilled in one-third the time, a suitable gear ratio is selected andproper gearing provided for train 41 to operate the cam shaft I atapproximately three times the speed. It should be understood that almostany gear ratio may be used in providing a suitable num- Thus, forexample, the same machine may be operated for one size container at 20filled containers per Y plurality of cans to be filled, a plurality ofholdminute, at 30 for another size and 80 for still ers horizontallyfixed to said conveyor, a plurality of cups in said holders mounted forlimited vertical movement, a guide rail adjacent to said conveyor, meanson each of said holders for movably supporting said holders on saidguide rail, and means for' lifting each of said cups in successionduring the filling operation.

2. In a powder-packing machine, the combination of, a conveyor formoving a plurality of cans to be filled, cups on said conveyor eachhaving a notch'in its upper surface, a take-off rail sloping upwardly inthe direction of movement of said conveyor and mounted to enter thenotch in each cup in succession, and means for con-V veying cans alongsaid take-oi! rail after the cans have been released from the cups. 3.In a powder-packing machine, the combination of, a'conveyor for moving aplurality of cans to be filled, cups mounted on said conveyor and eachhaving. a notch in its upper surface, and a take-on rail sloping upwardin the direction of movement of said conveyor and mounted to enter thenotch in eachholder in succession.

4. In a powder-packing machine, the combination of, a conveyor formovinga plurality of cansto be packedwith powder, a drive shaft for themovable parts of said machine, a stub-shaft mounted adjacent said driveshaft, gears connecting with said drive shaft and mounted on saidstub-shaft, a cam shaft driven by said gears, a Geneva gear driverdriven from said cam shaft, a Geneva gear' driven by said driver, meansfor driving said conveyor from said Geneva gear, second means forsupplying powder to said cans,

third means for driving said second means, a clutch for. connecting saidsecond means through said third means m said drive shaft, a brake forfor driving said auger and said conveyor, means.

including a stub shaft for driving said auger, a

clutch for connecting and disconnecting said drive shaft and saidstub-shaft, a brake for stopping said means when said clutch isdisconnected therefrom, and a cam actuating said clutch and said brake,said cam having adjustable parts for varying the times of operation ofsaid clutch and said brake.

' 6. In a can-filling machine, the combination of, a hopper forcontaining powder, an auger for feeding powder from said hopper, aconveyor, for supplying beneath the hopper a plu-' rality of cans to befilled, means for driving said conveyor and-said auger, a clutch forconnecting said auger to said means, a brake for stopping said augerimmediately upon the disconnection of said clutch, and a no-can no-filldevice comprising an arm pivotally mounted adjacent said conveyor on theoncoming side relative to said auger so as to be actuated by a can onsaid conveyor, a clutch-controlling lever actuated by said am, a

clutch lever connected 'to said clutch and to said brake so as. toactuate one or the other and having a portion engaging saidclutch-controlling leverin one position thereof and free' of saidclutch-controlling lever in another position thereof, a cam actuatingsaid clutch lever when said clutch lever is free from saidclutch-controlling lever, a spring stressing said clutch lever againstsaid cam, and means actuated by said cam for restoring saidclutch-controlling lever to locking position after it has been moved todisengaged position by said arm.

7. In a can-filling machine, a hopper for containing powder to be fed,an auger for feeding powder from said hopper, a drive-shaft for drivingthe moving parts of said machine, connections between said drive-shaftand said auger, a clutch controlling the connection of said connectionsto said drive-shaft, a brake for stopping said connections and saiddrive-shaft upon disconnection of said clutch, a clutch-lever actuatingsaid clutch and said brake in interlocking relation, a cam driven fromsaid drive-shaft, a spring stressing said clutch-lever against said cam,a no-can no-fill device located so as to be actuated by the cans to befilled, a clutch-controlling lever actuated by said no-can no-filldevice and located so as to be movable into and out of a portion of thepath of said clutch-lever thereby'controlling the movement of saidclutchlever towards and away from said cam in response to the positionof said no-can no-fill device, and means for moving saidclutch-control1ing lever in the opposite direction to that caused bysaid nocan no-iill device to free said clutch-lever from the control ofsaid clutch-controlling'lever.

8. In a can-filling machine, a hopper for containing powder to be fed,an outlet for powder for conveying a plurality of cans to be filled withsaid powder adjacent said outlet, and second means operatingsimultaneously with said first means for lifting each of said cans insuccession from said conveyor so as to hold the lifted can adjacent tobut spaced from said outlet during the initial part of said lifting soas to provide an outlet for air from said can and for lifting saidlifted can into contact with said outlet during a latter part of thelifting of said can.

9. In a can-filling machine, a hopper for containing powder to be fed,an outlet for powder from said hopper, first means for feeding powderfrom said hopper through said outlet, a conveyor for conveying aplurality of cans to be filled with said powder adjacent to said outlet,second means for lifting each of said cans in succession from saidconveyor under said outlet, and a cam having three diiferent actuatingparts, one of said parts being arranged so as to hold said second meansaway from said conveyor, another of said parts being arranged so as tocause said second means to lift each of said cans in succession into aposition adjacent to but spaced from said outlet to provide an outletfor air from said lifted can during the first part of theoperation ofsaid first means, and said third part being arranged to cause saidsecond means to lift said can into contact with said outlet during alatter part of the operation of said first means.

10. In a can-filling machine a hopper for containing powder to be fed, anozzle forming an outlet for powder from said hopper, an auger forfeeding powder from said hopper through said nozzle, a conveyor formoving a plurality of cans to be filled adjacent to said nozzle, a rodmounted in alignment with said nozzle so as to remove each of said cansin succession from said conveyor and to lift said can ontosaid nozzle, aspring stressing said rod toward said nozzle, a lever having engagementwith said rod, and a cam having engagement with said lever and havingthree actuating parts, one of said parts being arranged to hold saidlever in position to compress said spring and hold said rod away fromsaid conveyor, another of said parts being adapted to provide forpartial expansion of said spring to raise each of said cans insuccession .from said conveyor into a position adjacent to

